A New Face
by OREOS555
Summary: Percy Jackson has always been like a brother to Kayla Sentario. But what happens when it turns out Kayla is actually a demigod? Join her as she deals with personal turmoil, an eidetic memory, a quest with a bitter son of Hades, a startlingly optimistic son of Aphrodite, and... superheroes. Superheroes? Really?
1. Prologue

**Okay, so this idea has been in my head for a while and I just really need to get it out… but it's gonna be a lot less light-hearted than my story Flashback.**

 **Disclaimer: I think it's pretty obvious that I don't own this and it's clearly AU, so I'm only gonna put this once.**

* * *

Imagine you live in New York. Done? Good. Now imagine that you were born and raised here. Imagine that you lived in a terrible neighborhood in Manhattan. One where cops look the other way when they see someone being mugged.

What if I told you about a girl named Kayla Sentario whose reality is what you've just imagined and more? You wouldn't believe me would you? A little girl couldn't live in such a bad place. If you thought that you'd be wrong.

Little Kayla Sentario was born thirteen years ago in a small, somewhat rundown hospital. For about a year it was just her and her mother. Then Kayla's mother, Cindy Sentario, met a man named Stan Andrews. It was love at first sight. They married on March 30, 2002 not long after Kayla's second birthday on December 17, 2001.

Thing were great for a while. Stan once even took Kayla and Cindy to Buffalo when he had to go on business. That's where Kayla met a lifelong friend. The girl was older than Kayla (who had been three at the time) by two years. The girl's name was Artemis Crock. She was a daughter of one of Stan's colleagues. They had hit it off immediately and couldn't wait to meet again. If only good things could last.

When Kayla was four disaster struck. Heavy on the dis. Cindy- who had been pregnant at the time- had been mugged not far from their apartment building. Cindy had taken a blow to the stomach and no one was surprised when she had a miscarriage.

That's when Stan's true colors showed. He started drinking and domestic violence soon followed. Kayla had already started kindergarten even though she was only four, being gthe intelligent little bugger she was. That gave Cindy no other choice but to patch Kayla up at night and cover bruises in the morning.

When Kayla was eight she was diagnosed with ADHD, dyslexia, and kleptomania. When Stan heard about this (at the dinner table no less)he had thrown her out of her chair and into the counter. Cindy tried to stop him but he quickly knocked her out. Satisfied with knowing Cindy couldn't stop him, he picked up a knife from the table. He started towards Kayla who was staring at her mother as if she expected her to jump up and give Stan the beating of a lifetime. She didn't.

As he moved towards her Stan called Kayla a freak, a bastard child. He told her that she was a stupid waste of space and that she should never have been born. He loomed over her the knife pointed towards her. He brought the knife down and grinned as he felt it slide through the flesh of her arm.

He continued, though he didn't kill her. He couldn't. He was having too much _fun_. Kayla soon passed out from blood loss and Stan left. About twenty minutes later Cindy stirred and her eyes Cindy had. When she sat up she immediately looked around for her daughter. The moment Cindy saw Kayla she ran to the eight-year-old's side.

Cindy had been prepared for this. She knew that the beatings would get worse. Cindy ran to one of the cabinets and grabbed bandages and antiseptic. She ran back to Kayla and quickly applied them. Then Cindy ran to the fridge and opened one of the drawers inside. In the drawer were a few bags of blood like you would see in a blood bank.

She then opened a closet and grabbed an object that looked like an IV you would see in a hospital. She quickly and carefully picked Kayla up and placed her on a ratty old couch. Cindy placed a the bag of blood she had taken from the drawer on the IV and hooked it up to a needle that she placed in a vein on Kayla's wrist. Kayla was out of school for two weeks so she could heal. She had several nasty scars, though. Still does to this day.

But even with all the bad in Kayla's life there was still some good. When Kayla was six Cindy had taken her to a candy shop called Sweet on America where Cindy reunited with an old friend from high school. Sally Jackson.

Sally had a son of her own, Percy, and, because they were around each other so much, the began to love each other as only a brother and sister could.

And though there were many reasons as to why Kayla was different, and she knew it, she had never bothered to think that she might be the daughter of a god.

That is where our story starts.


	2. Chapter 1

**Manhattan**

 **May 27, 2012**

 **12:30 PM  
**  
Loud footsteps echoed through the alley. A girl with long blonde hair was running through back ways and climbing up fire escapes to run across rooftops and go back down again. She had lost the cops a while ago, but she had to make sure they wouldn't find her again.

The girl was wearing a blue hoodie, dark jeans, and had a bag hanging at her side. Earlier she'd had her hood up as to not be recognized. Obviously it had long since fallen down.

Once she was sure she wasn't being followed the girl slowed down, taking a loaf of freshly baked, still warm bread out of her bag. The girl broke off a rather large piece and walked over to a woman in raggedy clothes sitting in the alley. There were two small children asleep with their heads in the woman's lap, also wearing worn down clothes.

"Hey Aurora," The blonde girl said. She handed the woman the bread. "I know it's not much…" The woman, Aurora, smiled at the young girl.

"Kayla," She said. "You don't have to steal. At least not for me." Kayla Sentario stood up a little straighter, sea green eyes piercing into Aurora's amethyst ones with determination.

"I'm not about to sit around while you starve." Kayla took a few apples out of her bag. "I also got some apples and money off of a cop that was chasing me." She quickly handed her some money and the apples before turning around and heading towards another fire escape."Bye Aurora!" Kayla called over her shoulder, before disappearing over the edge of the building.

* * *

"John, would you quit following me?!" Kayla yelled turning around. A boy laughed and came out from behind the roof exit of the apartment building they were on.

"Oh, come on Kayla," John said. "You can't still blame me."

"Wow," Kayla retorted. "Just when I thought you couldn't get any more stupid." She turned around and started walking again. "It was your fault, so I'm going to blame you. Get over it." John threw is hands in the air, exasperated.

"But it wasn't my fault!" Kayla stopped in her tracks, deathly silent. Her fists clenched and she turned around very slowly. John started taking steps back when he saw the anger in her eyes.

"Not. Your. Fault?" Kayla took a step forward with every word. "If it weren't for you Seth wouldn't have stolen more." She was less than a foot away from him now. " He was your brother, he always provided for you. But you still wanted more."

"And there's something wrong with wanting something you don't have?" John asked incredulously. Kayla's eyes flashed.

"Not when you keep it to yourself."Kayla said. "But you went and pushed it on us. Seth felt guilty, wanted to steal more." She looked away and closed her eyes as tight as they would go, memories swimming behind her eyelids, hearing a gunshot going off in her mind. "We did and we got caught. We ran, a cop shot Seth. Now he's dead and I had three months in Juvie." She opened her eyes and looked back at John, straight in the eyes. He looked so much like… Kayla shook her head. "Now it's your turn to feel guilty. Go home, John. You've done enough."

She walked away and left him standing there eyes heavy with guilt and sorrow.

* * *

 **Manhattan**

 **May 27, 2012**

 **4:30 PM**

If anyone had looked to the top of one rundown apartment building, they would see a young girl sitting there watching the entrance. Kayla had been sitting there for nearly three hours, waiting for her step-father to leave. Finally she saw him walk out of the building. She watched from above as everyone (some more subtle than others) steered clear of the man that smelt like beer and cigar smoke. As soon as he turned the corner, Kayla turned and climbed down to a half-open window that she pushed up and entered through.

"Mom, I'm home!" She called into the apartment, before swinging her bag onto the table, causing a few apples and the bread to peek out. Cindy then walked in and when she saw the bag her slight smile turned into a frown.

"You know I don't like you stealing." Cindy said, eyeing the apple her daughter was taking a bite out of. Kayla shrugged.

"We needed food." Kayla stated simply. Cindy sighed but didn't argue.

"We're eating at Sally's tonight." Kayla's eyes lit up. "Some of Percy's friends from his summer camp are going to be there so I expect you to be on your best behavior." Kayla nodded quickly. "Go put on some nicer clothes. We leave in twenty minutes." Kayla practically ran to her room to change.

Little did they know that this dinner would change everything.


	3. Chapter 2

**Manhattan**

 **May 27, 2012**

 **5:20 PM**

 **Jackson Residence**

It wasn't very often that Percy could from camp over. It felt good to see the other side of his family again. Though it would be better if Thalia would stop shocking him, just to see his reaction. Percy looked around the room. Looks like everyone's here. Percy's cousin, Thalia, and his best friend, Grover, were seated on the couch along with his girlfriend, Annabeth. The hunters had made a stop at Camp Half-Blood and this gave Thalia the great opportunity to visit. Since Percy had come to the conclusion that everyone was there he was surprised when there was a knock on the door of his apartment.

"I'll get it," The green-eyed boy said before standing to answer the door. He didn't miss, or understand, the knowing look on his mother's face. Percy didn't know what he expected, but he certainly didn't expect his pseudo-sister to practically tackle him with a hug the second he opened the door. "Kayla?" The girl pulled away and looked up from her height of 4' 9" to smirk at him.

"Who else?" Percy laughed and looked to the blonde woman standing to the side, smiling at the small reunion.

"Hey, Aunt Cindy, come on in." Percy moved so his 'aunt' and 'sister' could walk in. "Mom, why didn't you tell me Kayla and Aunt Cindy were coming?" Kayla ran to Sally and hugged her.

"Hi Aunt Sally!" She said before turning to Percy's step-dad. "Hey, Paul." The older man offered a small smile.

"It's good to see the two of you again." Cindy gave him a hug and started chatting with Sally and Paul. Percy lightly touched Kayla's shoulder and she tensed immediately. If Percy noticed he didn't show it, as he turned Kayla towards the couch.

"Kayla, this is Annabeth, Thalia, and Grover." Percy said pointing to each one of them in turn. Annabeth was a tall blonde, with these intense grey eyes that looked like they were studying your every move. Thalia looked like one of those punk-rocker people you see on the street every day, with her spiked up hair and dark eyeliner. Grover looked about Percy's age, maybe a year or so older and looked kind of... hippie-ish. He had pale skin, red hair and wore a ratty rasta cap on his head that had clearly seen better days. "Guys-" Thalia cleared her throat which caused Percy to roll his eyes. "Fine, girls and guy, this is Kayla." A mischievous glint came to the young girl's eyes, before she stepped forward.

"So you're the famous Annabeth that Percy's always talking about." Kayla held out her hand for Annabeth to shake.

"Famous?" Annabeth asked, looking over to Percy as she shook Kayla's hand.

"Yeah, it's always 'Annabeth this. Annabeth that.'" Kayla started to move around to illustrate the story, as well as move away from Percy, who was trying to get her to stop talking. "You know, one time I asked him to describe you and he said, 'She's the most beautiful, intelligent, amazing girl I've ever me- mph!'" The adults had stopped chatting so they could watch the show before them. Grover had a bright smile on his face, Annabeth and the adults were trying to smother giggles, while Thalia was outright laughing. Kayla was trying to pull Percy's hand away from her mouth before trying a… better tactic.

"Eww!" Percy exclaimed, immediately withdrawing his hand and wiping the spot where Kayla licked his hand on his jeans while Kayla ducked away and sat down on the arm of the couch next to Annabeth.

"And don't even get me started on what he was like after you two started dating…" Kayla trailed off, as laughs came from all of the people in the room. Percy was pouting off to the side.

"That's enough, Kayla." Cindy said, even though it was obvious she thought it was funny. "No more messing with Percy."

"Thanks Aunt Cindy." Percy said. He stuck his tongue out at Kayla.

"Oh, you're no fun." The younger girl replied, smirking back at the older boy. Cindy went into the kitchen with Sally to help get dinner ready and for about twenty minutes there was a lot of catching up between Kayla and Percy and getting to know Percy's friends and hear small bits about Percy's summer camp. Percy had told Kayla a lot about it, even if the details were vague, and Kayla had always loved hearing about it. Not too long afterwards Sally and Cindy walked back into the room.

"Dinner's going to take a little longer than I thought." Sally said, wiping her hands with a dish towel. "There's a small park not too far from here; you kids could go there and I can call Annabeth when dinner's ready."

"Sure," Percy replied. He stood up to give his mother a kiss on the cheek and turned to his friends. "Let's go guys."

* * *

Kayla sighed as the group walked towards the park. "Aunt Sally." She said. "One of the only people I know who can kick people out nicely." Annabeth chuckled and looked to Kayla. The younger blonde had this huge lopsided grin on her face. But it didn't reach her eyes. Eyes that looked a lot like Percy's.

Annabeth was confused, and it wasn't a very good feeling. Kayla seemed so free and happy and nice and was definitely funny. So why did it seem like she was hiding something? It was her mother too. They both had this sadness in their eyes, like they had seen things that no one should ever see. And Kayla also looked a lot like Percy, too. It was strange how alike they were. Could she be...? No. She couldn't be a demigod, much less one that powerful.

"So." Grover said. "Are you two cousins?" Annabeth remembered haw they called each other's mothers 'aunt'. Both Percy and Kayla shook their heads. At the same time.

"Nah, our moms were friends in high school before my mom dropped out." Percy explained.

"They lost touch and when I was six we ran into Aunt Sally and Percy at the candy shop that Aunt Sally was working at the time." Kayla finished. Then the girl seemed to spot something. "Monkey bars!" She exclaimed before running to the aforementioned equipment. Kayla jumped and grabbed the first rung before climbing so she was sitting on top of the monkey bars. Percy laughed.

"You're so weird." He told her as the four other teens moved to stand next to the monkey bars.

"What's the fun in being normal?" Kayla replied before standing up one of the bars. Percy tensed a little.

"Kayla, please don't do that." He said. "I don't want you to fall." Kayla took this opportunity to go into a handstand.

"Deal with it." Even if she was upside down with her hair in her you could still see her smirk. Though, Annabeth only had a second to register that because Kayla's handstand also gave her new acquaintances a perfect view of the hellhound lurking behind her. Its eyes were following Kayla's every move. Kayla shifted again and the beast was out of view once again. Annabeth's eyes went to her friends. Their faces were pale and eyes wide. They saw it too.

Kayla's arms bent a little before she pushed herself up and did a few flips before landing solidly on the ground. Her eyebrows furrowed when she saw the pale faces of her companions. She followed their eyes behind her and turned around slowly. What she saw certainly surprised her. What the hell…

The beast in standing in front of Kayla was the size of a rhino, with matted black fur and vicious red eyes. A memory flashed in front of Kayla's eyes. She had gone to a friend's house- when she still had friends- and that girl's older brother had been watching a Stephen King movie, called Cujo. Kayla had secretly watched it with her friend and had nightmares about it for two months- which was one of the things that hinted at her eidetic memory. Your name is now Cujo. This strange beast looked very much like the dog from the movie. But that wasn't what scared Kayla- oh, no. What scared her was that its red eyes were trained right. On. Her.

Without warning Cujo jumped forward to sink its teeth into Kayla only for her to jump out of the way. After rolling to the side Kayla stood and quickly looked around. She watched as Percy took out a pen and uncapped it, turning it into a sword. Percy lunged at Cujo along with Annabeth, Thalia, and Grover, who had pulled weapons (and were those reed pipes?) from nowhere, successfully taking Cujo's attention off of Kayla.

"Kayla, get out of here!" Percy shouted. Suddenly a large wave appeared and pushed the girl away from the fight. For a dizzying, weightless moment Kayla was swept away. When Kayla finally stood she was disoriented and soaked to the bone. There was a loud cry from behind her and Kayla whipped around to see what the noise was. Her eyes widened at the terrifying scene in front of her.

Grover had been thrown into a tree and was unconscious, Thalia was clutching her shoulder to try and stop a large bite from bleeding. Percy and Annabeth were trapped underneath Cujo, who was snapping at them but managing to miss every time. Kayla noticed Percy's sword around ten feet away from her. Kayla took small steps toward the sword and picked it up. Kayla somehow managed to get behind Cujo without being noticed, but when she stepped forward to stab it, she stepped on a twig. Cujo's head tilted to the side before he climbed off of Percy and Annabeth. Kayla backed up a bit when Cujo turned to look at her. She studied the creature. When Kayla saw Cujo's legs tense and he lept towards her she did the only thing that came naturally. She swung the sword.

There was a loud hissing sound and Cujo was turned into this golden sand that smelt like rotten eggs. Kayla immediately dropped the sword and ran over to Percy who was helping Annabeth to her feet.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"We're fine." Percy said, though he was looking at her funny. "You just killed that hellhound." Kayla looked at him questioningly.

"You mean Cujo on steroids?" She asked. Percy gave her a serious look. It seemed almost foreign on his normally smiling face. There was another cry coming from the side reming the three of Thalia's predicament. Grover had come-to and was next to Thalia trying to stop the bleeding. As Percy, Annabeth, and Kayla ran to Grover and Thalia, Kayla noticed the uncomfortable sloshing of her wet shoes. When the trio stopped Percy grabbed Kayla's arm and closed his eyes. Kayla was about to grab his arm and flip him over her shoulder, (a reflex she had developed living in the place she did) but quickly reminded herself that this was Percy. Not some rapist or wanna-be thug. Percy.

It wasn't until he let go that Kayla noticed she was dry.

"How'd you-" She started.

"I'll tell you later." Percy cut her off, before walking to Thalia. He took a Ziploc bag, with little squares of something in it, out of his pocket and gave one to Thalia. The spikey- haired teen ate it and slowly, but surely, the wound stopped bleeding and closed. Kayla probably looked like a fish, with her mouth opening and closing like that, but she couldn't find it in her to care. The bite was gone. Everyone was saying stuff along the lines of 'What are we going to do with her,' 'We should take her to camp,' 'Is she a demigod,' and so forth. The words spun in Kayla's head. She knew that 'her' was, well, her.

"Shut up!" Kayla finally yelled. Everyone looked at her, shocked. "Would you quit talking about me like I'm not here and actually explain what's going on?!" Eyes widened and jaws dropped. "How did you dry me off? How did that bite heal so quickly? What was that thing? And what do you mean by demigod?" Percy blinked.

"How did you understand us?" Kayla rolled her eyes.

"I'm not stupid, Percy; you know that." Grover raised an eyebrow.

"I guess she is a demigod." He said, looking at Kayla. "Unless of course you suddenly speak ancient Greek." Kayla's eyes widened. It happened again.

"We don't have time for this." Annabeth said. "Percy, call Mrs. O'Leary." The green-eyed boy nodded and let out a loud whistle. A moment later shadows practically jumped to the trees and a shape took form. Then, much to Kayla's surprise, another beast that looked a lot like Cujo leaped out. Now, since Kayla had just been attacked by one of these things and still wasn't sure of what it was, it was perfectly acceptable for her to hide behind Percy.

"Cujo had a friend!" She yelled. Percy chuckled and pulled Kayla next to him.

"Kayla, this is Mrs.O'Leary. She's the only nice hellhound I've ever met." Mrs. O'Leary walked to Kayla and sniffed the girl's hair before licking the side of her head and letting out a loud 'woof'. "I think she likes you." Kayla smiled and gave Mrs. O'Leary a pat on the head. How was I afraid of her? Percy then tried to lift Kayla onto Mrs. O'Leary's back only for the younger girl to cry out. Percy immediately put her down and turned her to face him. What he didn't know was that he had accidentally squeezed a bruise Stan had given her that had not yet healed. "Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, I just… bumped into a counter earlier." Lie. Percy didn't believe it either, you could see it in his eyes. "It's just a bruise." She said, before climbing onto Mrs.O'Leary and ending the conversation. Percy and Annabeth soon followed, while Grover and Thalia took a step back from the massive hellhound. Percy leaned down and whispered something into Mrs. O'Leary's ear and darkness surrounded them.

Now, even though it was cold, windy, and Kayla felt like her face was being torn off, not to mention it being dark, whatever this method of travel was, it. Was. Awesomeness. But something even cooler waited on the other side.

It looked like a normal summer camp, with children of all ages running around. Most of them were carrying weapons, though so it couldn't be normal. The cabins looked much newer and more grand than ones at other camps too. There was a dining hall with Grecian-style columns, but no roof, to Kayla's far right and a large blue farmhouse to her left next to a strawberry field. Annabeth and Percy slid off of Mrs. O'Leary's back and Kayla quickly followed behind them. Mrs. O'Leary bounded off again and a minute later came back with Grover and Thalia, who both looked a bit green. There was a big hill with a large pine at the very top a little bit farther than the farmhouse. The pine had something gold twinkling on one of its branches with a- is that a dragon- wrapped around the trunk. It was beautiful.

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood."


	4. Chapter 3

**Long Island**

 **May 27, 2012**

 **5:50**

 **Camp Half-Blood**

Kayla knew now that you are never truly intimidated until you are brought in front of two middle-aged men in a strange camp when you have no idea what the flying fuck-a-doodle is going on. One of the two men seemed to be the older of the two. He was in a wheelchair with a blanket covering his legs. He had brown eyes that looked a thousand years old and the brown hair on top of his head and on his chin had strands of gray in it. His (admittedly funny) shirt read: 'My other car is a centaur'.

The other man looked a hell of a lot less friendly and Kayla hated him already. He distinctly reminded her of one of her step-father's drinking buddies. Except for the look on his face that reminded her of the one that had been on Stan's face the one time he tried to get sober (he failed- obviously). So he was a recovering alcoholic. But the man also had this glint of madness in his eyes, not like a man insane, but one whom could cause insanity. But he probably was insane. You know, since he looked like a leopard threw up on him and all.

"Kayla," Percy said. "This is Chiron and Mr. D." Chiron turned to the confused girl with a smile on his lips and a twinkle in his eye. Mr. D just looked up and grunted.

"I suppose, I must say it." Mr. D muttered unpleasantly, scowling. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood blah, blah, blah. Don't expect me to say it again." Kayla raised her eyebrows with an expression that _basically_ said 'well then'.

"Well, it's nice to meet you too." Kayla said. "But, if you're the welcoming committee, then you're not doing a very good job." The look Mr. D gave her showed her that she probably shouldn't have said that. _Mom did say that my mouth would get me killed._ Mr. D narrowed his eyes at her and gave her the same condescending look that her teachers used to give her when something would go missing in the class room and they'd find it in her pockets. _Ah, fuck it._ Kayla rolled her eyes and then narrowed them just as Mr. D did. "I can narrow my eyes, too and look equally as stupid." Mr. D's scowl deepened.

"Those smart-ass comments will get you incinerated, little girl." He spat. Kayla didn't miss a beat.

"Well, until that day, I am content to enjoy my smart-assery." Mr. D stood slamming his hands down onto the table and knocking over his chair. Kayla didn't flinch and stood up straight, trying to look more confident and less afraid then she felt (it worked but the effect was kind of taken away by the fact that Kayla had to crane her neck to look the man in the eye). Moments passed in a tense silence, then-

"I have business with the satyrs. Chiron, take care of this… _child_." Mr. D sneered. He glared at Kayla one last time before turning and walking away. Kayla let out a small sigh of relief. _Fucking big bag of dicks._ Then, two hands were on Kayla's shoulders turning her around. Percy looked at her with a worried and slightly angry look on his face.

"Makayla Elizabeth Sentario, what on the Styx were you thinking?!" Kayla flinched. _Full name. Ouch._ "Wait, no, you weren't thinking were you?" Percy gave Kayla a shake. "He is dangerous! He could turn you into a dolphin! Make you go insane! You need to be careful with what you say to people!" He shook her again. "Do you understand?!" Kayla started pushing against Percy's chest. He shook her again. "Do you understand?!" He repeated.

"YES! Yes, I understand." Kayla said, before pushing at her pseudo-brother's chest again. "Now quit shaking me! And _don't_ call me Makayla." She gave another push and Percy seemed to come back to himself and let go. He rubbed the back of his neck and let out a sigh.

"Sorry. But you need to be careful; like I said, he's dangerous." Kayla glared at him, but the heat that was there before was gone.

"Yeah, I got that." She replied, before punching him in the arm. "And no more shaking." Percy stuck out his tongue out at her and the last of the tension in the air was cleared as she laughed and punched him again. Behind them, Chiron cleared his throat and the laughing teens sobered up. He smiled at the two and motioned to the chairs.

"Welcome to our humble camp, child. Please sit." He said. Kayla raised an eyebrow as she remembered what some of the cabins looked like. _Humble?_ Kayla warily sat down, somewhat nervous under the man's old eyes. Her fingers started twitching and she shoved them into the pockets of her jacket. "I must say, we weren't expecting any new campers today." Chiron looked to Percy for an explanation.

"A hellhound attacked us." Percy said. "It was focused on Kayla until Thalia, Nico, Annabeth, and I distracted it. We didn't know why until she understood us while we were speaking Ancient Greek." Chiron seemed surprised (to a small degree) as he turned to look at Kayla. "I wouldn't have been able to explain as well as you could and none of us were safe out there anyway, so we brought her here." Chiron looked to Percy and nodded.

"Very well." The wheelchair-bound man looked back to Kayla (in his mind he made a note of the seemingly natural black tips to her hair and resemblance to Percy). "I suppose you've heard of the Greek myths." Kayla nodded.

"We did a unit on it in English back in March." She said. "It was pretty cool, but really messed up in some places." Percy snorted. "Seriously, Poseidon fucked his sister while she was in the form of a horse. Bit messed up, don't you think?" Percy groaned and put his face in his hands.

"I'd rather not think about my dad's sexcapades, thank you. And you shouldn't say fuck." The last part was added as more of an afterthought, but Kayla was too hung up on the first part of what Percy said to bother arguing about him telling her what to do.

"Your dad?" Kayla asked, eyes widening. "But that's imposi-" Kayla cut herself off and looked at Chiron. A look of realization dawned on her face. "That's why you brought up Greek mythology. It's all real." Her eyes widened even more. "You're Chiron. _The_ Chiron. _Trainer of heroes_ Chiron." Chiron nodded and Kayla slumped over in her chair. "Holy shit."

"Don't say shit." Percy piped up.

"Don't tell me what to do."

"I am surprised." Chiron said, interrupting their fight before it started. "Not many figure it out so quickly."

"Percy and the others… they said I was a demigod." Chiron nodded.

"Half mortal, half god." Kayla nodded numbly. "Which is your mortal parent, Makayla?" Kayla scowled.

"My mother, I guess. She's the one who raised me." The short girl replied. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't call me Makayla. Just Kayla is fine."

"As you wish." Chiron said. Kayla resisted making a Princess Bride reference. "Now, we should continue this with the orientation video. Follow me." Kayla stood and Chiron looked like he was going to, too. And then he did.

First the blanket fell away, revealing the legs that Kayla had seen before to be fake. Then came two long white legs complete with hooves, a long midsection, and then his hind legs and quarters appeared last. Kayla tried not to be surprised, she really did. It just didn't work.

"Right. Centaur." She said. Kayla chuckled and pointed at Chiron's shirt. "Punny." Chiron smiled.

"That was the intention." He started walking towards the house. "Now, follow me. Percy, please, wait here. We will be back shortly." Kayla stood and, with one last look towards Percy, followed Chiron into the house.

* * *

"I don't think I've had a student who has needed so little convincing from me or others in quite some time." Chiron said as the two walked down the hallway. "It is rather refreshing." Kayla gave him a small smile.

"Well, if I didn't remember waking up this morning, I'd think this was all some crazy dream." She paused for a moment. "Guess it still could be a dream though."

"It is not child, you have my word." Chiron stopped at the last door on the right of the hallway and walked in. "Have a seat." Kayla sat and Chiron started fiddling with an ancient TV and a VHS tape. _Those things still exist?_

For what it's worth, Kayla did try to pay attention. She really did! She just didn't succeed. All Kayla could think about was the fact that her father was apparently a god. _Who could it be?_ Kayla remembered a few times that she and Percy would be out together and people would mistake them for siblings. _Percy said he didn't want to hear about his dad's sexcapades and he made that wave. I guess that means his dad is Poseidon. Could we be…_ Kayla shook her head. _No. I'm not that powerful, I can already tell._ She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't realize that the video was over.

"You should go back to Percy." Chiron said. Embarrassingly enough, it made Kayla jump. "He will show you around camp. I have other business to attend to." Kayla nodded and started on her way back towards the porch. When she stepped out of the house she was greeted by a… strange sight.

Thalia (who was wearing the same clothes as earlier with the exception of a silver circlet on her head) was on the porch with Percy, but he was behind her with his arms around her middle while she struggled to get away. Not far away from those two, a girl who looked to be Japanese stood looking at her nails. She looked kind of like a supermodel and somehow made her orange t-shirt and jeans look like designer clothing.

"And who is this?" The girl asked, looking at Kayla. "A new camper?"

"Kayla." The short girl said. Miss Supermodel looked her up and down, seeming to consider something.

"I'm Drew." She said. Drew acted almost as if she were the center of the universe. "Daughter of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. I'm also the head counselor of her cabin." Kayla didn't exactly know what to do with this information.

"Congrats, I guess." Kayla made a 'who-even-is-this-girl' gesture towards Percy, which- coupled with her response-, seemed to make Drew at least a little bit mad.

"Well I can see why _you_ wouldn't care." Drew said disdainfully. "What with that outfit and all." Kayla raised an eyebrow, then smirked. _This is gonna be fun._ Kayla held out her hand like she had something pinched between her thumb and forefinger before miming dropping what she was 'holding' and letting out a 'devastated' gasp.

"Oh, no!" She exclaimed, ignoring the confused looks from the others. "I just dropped the fuck I was about to give." Drew glared. "I would give you another, but-" Kayla patted her pockets, pretending to look for something, "it looks like I'm all out, sorry." Kayla's smirk was back full force as she watched Drew lose her words and sputter for a few moments and walk away. Kayla let herself feel a lot of pride in that comeback.

"You shouldn't say fuck." Kayla groaned before turning to Percy.

"You shouldn't tell me what to do."

" _You_ shouldn't curse like a sailor."

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck." Kayla said. "Get over it." Percy frowned and stepped away from Thalia (whom he had let go of during Kayla's… conversation with Drew). Thalia smiled at Kayla with a new respect in her eyes.

"I like her." Thalia said, wrapping an arm around Kayla's shoulders. "Now why don't we start this tour."

* * *

The tour was uneventful. Kayla made a mental note to climb that rock wall later. The most interesting thing, though, was Thalia and Percy's banter. (That and Percy's abysmal attempt at archery; Kayla couldn't remember laughing so hard in her life.)

Dinner was fine, even if the Hermes table was a bit crowded. Kayla wanted to sit with Percy since he was all alone, but she told him she wouldn't do anything to piss Mr. D off and that included following the rules. After dinner was a Camp vs Hunters match of Capture the Flag, which the camp lost (again) and after that was the campfire, which is where things got interesting.

During the tour, Thalia, Percy, and Kayla had done some brainstorming on who her father was. The three of them had decided it was probably Hermes or Ares considering how good she was at pissing people off. All they really knew for sure was that there was no way that she was a child of one of the Big Three.

During the campfire, Chiron managed to calm everyone down and called Kayla up to introduce her to the camp.

"Campers, this is Kayla Sentario. She will be joining us from now on, make her feel welcome." A few people called out greetings to her. "As of yet, Miss Sentario is unclaimed-"

"Look!" Someone interrupted. People began whispering and pointing above her head. Uncomfortable, Kayla looked to Percy for reassurance, but he too was looking where everyone was pointing with a shocked look on his face. Kayla finally looked up to see a fading green trident above her head. Everyone, including Chiron kneeled.

"All hail Kayla Sentario, daughter of Poseidon." The centaur said. Kayla stood there for a moment before saying what everyone was thinking.

"Holy fuck."


	5. Chapter 4

**So, first of all, I totally meant to post this earlier and never got around to it, and second of all, I went back to look at things and realized that instead of the first chapter, I accidentally re-posted the prologue... so yeah, that's posted now, if you want to go read that!**

* * *

 **Long Island**

 **May 28, 2012**

 **8:00 AM**

 **Camp Half-Blood**

The next morning was… not as awkward as Kayla thought it would be. She thought it would be kinda weird considering that Percy barely talked to her, only lent her a t-shirt and sweatpants he had in the cabin and point her to the bathroom, before they went to bed. But it was understandable. Kayla was weirded out too, and Percy had thought he was an only child for so long… it was to be expected. But the next morning it seemed like everything was okay. You know, judging by the fact that Kayla was woken up by Percy jumping on her bed, screaming like a crazy person about how they were going to be late for breakfast. There wasn't enough time to dwell on that though, because then Kayla was being dragged out of bed (still in pajamas) to the dining pavilion.

What a beautiful way to start the day.

She did get a few looks, but couldn't tell if it was because of the fact that Percy was dragging her around, that she was wearing pajamas, or if it was because of her godly parent. Oh, well what does it matter really? The answer is that it didn't because nothing mattered until Kayla got some coffee. Preferably with a butt-load of sugar and creamer. Luckily she did get that coffee as well as some orange slices and two pieces of toast and it was _delicious_. Once she was fully awake Kayla delivered a swift kick to her brother's shin. Percy laughed and shook his head.

"I should probably tell you something." Kayla raised her eyebrows. "I bathed in the Styx last summer. I'm invincible now, so that means you can't beat me up like you used to." Percy stuck his tongue out at Kayla gloatingly.

"Actually," Kayla started. "I can still beat you up." She smirked. "You just won't get hurt." Percy snorted and flicked Kayla on the nose.

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

"Language, little sister."

"Stay in your fucking lane, big brother." They would've continued like that if Annabeth hadn't walked over to the table.

"Have a little trouble waking up this morning Kayla?" She asked. Kayla rolled her eyes.

"Nah, this asslamp decided to drag me out of the cabin before I could get dressed." Kayla picked up an orange slice from her plate and threw it at Percy, who caught it in his mouth.

"Lanwash." Kayla wrinkled her nose.

"Gross, dude, don't talk with your mouth full." She said. Annabeth nodded.

"I second that motion," Annabeth said. She put a hand on Kayla's shoulder. "You almost done?" Kayla nodded and started on her second piece of toast. Annabeth smiled. "Good. When you get done, you can get dressed and I can take you to pick out a more permanent weapon than the sword you borrowed yesterday for Capture the Flag." Kayla nodded again and started eating a little faster. The whole needing weapons thing was still kind of strange, but Kayla couldn't keep herself from being excited. The sword she had used had been unbalanced and heavy and just felt… _weird_ in her hands. The prospect of finding something that would fit her and feel right in her hands made her anticipate it even more.

"Hey!" Percy protested. "Why do I get told to stay in my lane when I tell you to do something, but when Annabeth does it you just nod and go along with it?!"

"Because," Kayla stuck her tongue out at him. "I like her better. Deal with it."

"Rude."

"You should be used to it by now."

"Hey, you weren't like this when you were six."

"Yeah, but I've been like this since I was ten, so still two years."

"I reject that. The rudeness started after you got out of Juvie."

"Pineapple." Annabeth had been listening amusedly to their bickering and was… pretty confused about the random word. However Kayla and Percy just continued their conversation.

"Sorry. Anyway, I should help you pick out your weapons seeing as I _am_ your awesome older brother."

"Awesome? Since when?"

"Since forever. You wouldn't know that, though, 'cause you're lame."

"Your face is lame."

"Your eyes are lame."

"We have the same eyes, smart one." Percy paused.

"Oh, yeah." He mock glared at Kayla for a moment. "You win this round, little sister." Kayla dramatically flipped her hair.

"I win all the rounds." Deciding not to ask about the 'pineapple' thing, Annabeth chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"On that note, I think you two dorks are done eating." Annabeth smiled at the siblings' protest at being called dorks and started walking towards the Poseidon cabin. Having Kayla around was certainly proving to be interesting.

* * *

"Holy shit nuggets."

"Language."

"Oh for the love of-"

"Hey." Annabeth cut in. "We're here to get Kayla a weapon, not argue about her creative cursing." The two children of Poseidon quickly shut up and Kayla returned to her assessment of the weapons shed. It was… impressive was a bit of an understatement. Weapons decorated every wall and were strewn across every table. There was barely even free space to walk because of the weapon racks all over the room. Kayla could see just about every weapon imaginable; swords, daggers, guns, you name it and it was there. At the same time, it was frightening seeing all these weapons. Kayla's eyes caught on a gun to the side. _That looks like the same model that…_ Kayla shook the memory from her head and looked back to Annabeth. Who… seemed to be waiting on her. "Well? Aren't you going to try some out?"

"Oh," Kayla suddenly realized what she was waiting on. "Uh, yeah, right. Trying out weapons." She pursed her lips. "Um… I don't really know what to..." She trailed off. Percy smiled at her good-naturedly and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Walk around, pick some stuff up, take a couple of swings. Try to find something that's just right for you." Percy nudged her forward. "Go on."

Kayla nodded and took a few hesitant steps. Her eyes scanned the room, not really looking for anything in particular, just waiting for something to pop out. At one point she picked up a wicked looking sword and was almost pulled to the ground by the weight of it. She may have been strong for someone her size, but she wasn't that strong. After picking up a few more swords with more or less the same results, she just moved on to the daggers. Which is when she saw a pair of daggers. They were beautiful, the celestial bronze blades looking new and unused. The hilts were carved with swirling designs that reminded Kayla of waves crashing against the shore. She reached out with one hand slowly and ran her fingers gingerly across the hilt. She hesitated before picking up one and then the other, feeling as if she were in some kind of trance. She gave a few experimental slashes and something just… clicked. It felt right, unlike the clunky sword she had used the night before for capture the flag or the other swords she had attempted to lift previously. Kayla slowly turned around to face Percy and Annabeth and smiled, slightly in awe. Percy gave a fake sniffle and pretended to wipe his eyes.

"My little sister, choosing her first weapon," he said. "They grow up so fast." Another pretend sniffle. Annabeth rolled her eyes and smacked Percy lightly on the arm. "Okay, okay, fine," he said, throwing up his hands. "I'll stop making stupid jokes. But this is still a pretty significant milestone for Kayla." He looked Kayla's weapon choice over again and nodded. "Daggers, huh? I'm more of a sword guy but this'll suit your stature more. Grab their scabbards and we can head to the arena to start your training." Kayla nodded and quickly snatched the objects in question and started on her way to the arena. Annabeth moved to follow, but Percy stopped her before she could. Annabeth looked to him with furrowed eyebrows. "I can see the wheels in your head turning," he started, "we have about three minutes before Kayla pretends she just noticed that we're not following her and tells us to hurry. What's up?"

"Nothing major," Annabeth said. "Just wondering why Kayla randomly said pineapple while you were talking." Percy nodded with a soft 'ah'.

"Yeah, um," he said, "you're going to laugh at me but Kayla and I kind of made a…" Percy trailed off, then sighed. "Code. We have a secret code."

"Wow, you nerds."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." He sighed and shook his head. "I'm never going to live this down. Anyway, if we're talking and one of us says 'pineapple' whatever subject we were talking about immediately gets dropped, no questions asked. Earlier I kind of hit a sore spot so…" He trailed off again and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

"HEY, LOVEBIRDS!" The pair in question's heads whipped around to look over at Kayla. "PICK UP THE PACE, LET'S GO!" Percy laughed, turning around and shrugging at Annabeth.

"Looks like our three minutes are up." He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Maybe you should walk slower, instead of yelling at us!"

"But this is so much more fun!" Kayla shouted back.

"Just wait for a minute!" Percy ignored Kayla's shout of 'You've had three already!' and turned back to his girlfriend. "You think you could help me train her?"

Annabeth shook her head, "I would, but I have to get my cabin to Arts & Crafts. Tell me how it goes later?" Percy nodded and kissed Annabeth on the cheek before she started walking towards the Athena cabin.

"Hey, loverboy!" Percy looked back to a clearly impatient Kayla. "I'll race you to the arena!" She yelled and then ran off.

"Hey, no fair!"


	6. Chapter 5

**Long Island**

 **May 28, 2012**

 **2:30 PM**

 **Camp Half-Blood**

Despite Percy's claim that he was a 'sword guy', he was actually pretty good with daggers. At least, he was good enough to knock Kayla on her ass. Repeatedly. Kayla had figured that Percy wouldn't go easy on her but for _fuck's sake_. They hadn't even been training for very long and Kayla already felt like her bruises had bruises. Kayla picked herself up off the ground ( _again_ ) and took up a fighting stance ( _again_ ). She and Percy circled each other ( _again_ ) and Kayla darted forward and feinted right and attempted to slip behind him and hit him in the back with the hilt of one of her daggers, only for Percy to trip her and knock Kayla on her ass ( _a-fucking-gain_ ). This time Kayla just groaned and laid for a second with her eyes closed.

"You okay there, little sister?" Kayla felt Percy's foot nudging her side and could practically hear his smirk. Kayla groaned again. Percy laughed and nudged her again. "It probably is about time for us to take a break, but you'll need to get up first." Kayla reluctantly opened her eyes and reached for Percy's outstretched hand, letting her brother pull her a standing position. "You good?"

Kayla slid her daggers into their sheaths on her back and rolled her head from side to side, wincing when what felt like every vertebra in her neck let out a loud 'crack'. "I think you bruised my everything." Percy chuckled and gently laid his hand on her shoulder.

" _I_ think you're gonna be fine." He turned around and started walking towards a large water cooler with a spout. "Come get some water, you'll feel a lot better." Kayla followed muttering under her breath and rubbing a particularly nasty bruise on her forearm. "You know, you're actually doing pretty good," he said, before putting his head under the spout and letting water pour onto his head.

Kayla scoffed. "I wouldn't call getting knocked on my ass 'pretty good'." Kayla furrowed her brows for a moment. "Also, it's 'well'." Percy pulled his head out from under the spout and shook his hair out like a dog. "Did you even get any water in your mouth?" Percy reached over and tugged on the ponytail Kayla had thrown her hair into when they had started training before responding.

"First of all," he started, "grammar doesn't matter during training." Kayla kind of wanted to point out that they weren't technically training at the moment, but figured that that _might_ just get him to not allow any breaks. "Second of all, yes I did actually get water in my mouth. And third," Percy grabbed her shoulders and leaned down so that he could look her in the eye. "Just because you failed a bit-" Kayla raised an eyebrow. "Okay, fine, a lot. Just because you failed a lot doesn't mean you did terribly. It just means you're learning. You could've done a lot worse. At least you knew not to block with your hand." This time Kayla raised both her eyebrows. "I'll tell you that story later. Now," Percy gave her a slight push towards the cooler. "Do what I just did. Trust me, it'll help." Kayla looked at Percy somewhat incredulously for another moment before shrugging and doing what she was told.

Surprisingly enough, when she lifted her head back up, she felt as if the aches and bruises that she had been complaining about only a minute before had never even been there in the first place. She wasn't even half as tired as she had been earlier. She turned back to Percy, who looked at her expectantly.

"So…" Kayla started. "Magic water?" Percy let out a loud laugh. And continued to laugh. Soon enough, he was nearly in tears, clutching his stomach, and barely making any actual noise while Kayla looked on, unimpressed. "Yes, we get it, it's all very funny, can you explain what that stuff _actually_ is?" Percy managed to take a few deep breaths and calm down straightened back up, wiping tears from his eyes.

"'Magic water', that's hilarious." Percy stepped to the side to dodge Kayla's attempt to punch him in the arm. "It's just regular water. The whole 'instantly refreshed' thing is just part of being a child of Poseidon. Pretty useful, right?"

"Right." Kayla said, somewhat dazed by the new information. "Forgot for a second that we're basically meta-humans." Then she stopped a sudden thought occurring to her. "Wait, are metas just demigods? Is the Justice League just a group of demigods and aliens? Are _we_ aliens? Holy shit. What the fuck even." Percy was back to laughing at his sister as she began to overthink just about everything. "Stop laughing at me! I think I'm having an existential crisis or something!" Percy continued laughing. "Percy, come on, need answers!" She pleaded. Percy gave a few last chuckles and shook his head.

"Alright, alright. Jeez you've just been a riot today." He took another deep breath and began, "Firstly, watch your language." Kayla looked at him flatly and gestured for him to get on with it. "Secondly, as far as I know, the only people in the Justice League who knows about the existence of demigods are Wonder Woman, y'know, cause she's an Amazonian princess and all, and Aquaman, because he's Atlantean. Plus his protégé. Maybe they told the rest of the Justice League, maybe they didn't, but either way, as long as they don't think we're a threat, we're cool with that. Not exactly sure the gods share that sentiment but whatever." He shrugged before continuing. "And thirdly, of course we're not aliens, Kayla. How did you even get to that point I mean, really" This time Kayla shrugged.

"I overthink things sometimes."

"I can tell."

"Hey, it's better than not thinking, like _some_ people."

"Wow, rude!"

Suddenly, Kayla jumped as shadows flew past her and into a corner on the other side of the arena. Then a boy dressed in all black and wearing a bomber jacket stepped out of the shadows. His dark hair was shaggy and fell just past his ears and he had a gaunt look to him, like he hadn't been eating or sleeping as much as he should be. A wickedly sharp blade, dark as obsidian, was at his left hip, held there with what looked like a silver chain. He seemed to be around Kayla's age and was maybe five inches taller than her. As he stepped farther into the arena, the shadows receded back to their original places. The boy didn't seem to notice them until Percy waved and called out to him.

"Nico!" He shouted, and Kayla flinched at the loudness of it. "It's been a while, cuz, how have you been? Come over here, I've got someone for you to meet!" This time, Kayla flinched because Percy clapped a heavy hand onto her shoulder. The boy, Nico, seemed to hesitate a moment, letting his near-black eyes shift between Percy and Kayla before warily closing the six yards of distance between them. Thankfully, Percy waited until Nico was right in front of them and spoke at a regular volume when he continued. "Kayla, this is our cousin Nico di Angelo, son of Hades. Nico, this is Kayla Sentario. I've known her since she was six, and it turns out she's my half-sister." Nico's eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly in surprise before he caught himself and schooled his facial expression into something more restrained.

"That's… an amazing coincidence." He said in a quiet voice that was slightly raspy, like he hadn't talked in a while. He looked Kayla up and down, sizing her up like he was trying to find out if she was really powerful enough to be a daughter of Poseidon. Kayla shifted, uncomfortable under the scrutiny, and fumbled for something to say.

"Yeah, it, uh, it really is." Kayla said, stunned. "So, uh, how the fuck did you… do… that?" She waved her hand vaguely in the direction of the corner where Nico had appeared.

"It's called Shadow Travel." He said, still quiet, like he wasn't quite comfortable. "Children of Hades can use shadows to go from one place to another."

"Hellhounds, too." Percy interjected. "Remember how we came here on Mrs. O'Leary?" Kayla nodded. "That was shadow travel." Kayla nodded again.

"Huh." Percy snorted at Kayla's response.

"Eloquent."

"Oh, is that your big word for the day?"

"Oh, is that your rude comment for the day."

"Percy, you know me better than that," Kayla grinned. "I have way more than just one." Kayla looked over at where Nico… _had_ been standing? She frowned, and looked around to see him already almost at the entrance to the arena. Percy's eyebrows furrowed and his head tilted to the side, like a confused kitten.

"Hey, Nico!" He called. "Where are you going? We should catch up some more!" Nico paused for a moment.

"I'm here on business for my father." He responded, barely even looking over his shoulder. "I shouldn't keep him waiting." With that he walked out without another word, leaving Kala and Percy staring at his back.


	7. Chapter 6

**Long Island**

 **July 10, 2012**

 **2:30 AM**

 **Camp Half-Blood**

After her… strange, somewhat awkward first meeting with Nico di Angelo, not much else of consequence happened in Kayla's life. Percy kept kicking her ass in training- although she almost had him once, before he cheated by tickling her. She continued to baffle and be baffled by her proficiency in Ancient Greek. Kayla had figured out at this point that her ability to absorb the language was uncommon even by demigod standards. She thought it better that she not mention that her ability wasn't limited to Greek.

She managed to find friends around camp besides the people she met through Percy. Travis and Connor Stoll were particularly fun, especially when they taught her not only steal from the camp store without getting caught (they also gave her some handy little tips on how to keep her kleptomania in check in her day-to-day). After her first disastrous encounter with the head counselor of the Aphrodite cabin, Kayla was surprised to hit it off with Mitchell and Lacy, two timid children of Aphrodite who were grateful to Kayla for at least trying to put Drew in her place (sadly it didn't work all that well; all it did was make sure that the Aphrodite cabin always played against the Poseidon cabin in capture the flag). When she wasn't training with Percy, attending activities or lessons, or hanging out with her newfound friends, Kayla would swim into the ocean and sit on the ocean floor swimming and listening to the thoughts of the fish around her.

It didn't stay that way, unfortunately. Over the course of the summer the ocean became rougher and rougher to the point that Chiron told even Percy and Kayla not to swim in it. All the while Kayla had strange dreams. They usually began with her waking up in a lab of some sort, vision and hearing fuzzy. Then, all at once, everything would snap into focus except for one thing. Scientists surrounded it, poking and prodding and writing down their observations before going back to poking and prodding. When Kayla would look around the strange laboratory, the only other inhabitants would always be monsters of every kind with strange collars around their necks. Every time the dream would fade out slowly with Kayla listening to the scientists talk about something overly complicated and technical that she could never make heads or tails of.

Then, that changed.

Kayla's dream started the same as usual, but once it got to the point where the scientists' voices would start to fade out, instead of Kayla waking up confused and not knowing what to make of it, a bald man wearing a suit with a familiar face that she couldn't place burst into the room in a whirlwind with a tough looking woman behind him. The scientists immediately stood up straighter and tried to organise their papers around the still blurry mystery object. The familiar man's face didn't show any anger but his posture was stiff and tense, as if he was trying to keep himself from attacking the scientists.

"You've had your time." The man's voice was smooth, but cold, and Kayla found herself worried for the scientists. "What are your findings?"

One scientist took off her glasses and nervously cleaned them on her pristine white lab coat. "We-well, the… the, uh…" The scientist put her glasses back on and cleared her throat. "Well it has the same properties as some Atlantean tech, which is actually unsurprising considering its origin…" The scientist cleared her throat again and shifted from side to side. "It should be a magnificent power source but…" She fidgeted with her glasses again. "There seems to be some kind of… block on it, preventing us from using it to its full power." The bald man frowned.

"Will it still be powerful enough for our purposes?" The man's voice took on a dangerous edge. Kayla watched as the scientist gulped and started unbuttoning and redoing button on her coat.

"Y-y-yes, sir. It will, I promise." The man nodded and turned from her walking towards the door with, presumably, his bodyguard in tow.

"Good. We will start testing the machine tomorrow." He said over his shoulder. "And Doctor?" He paused in the door.

"Yes, sir?" The scientist responded.

"If this doesn't work…" He trailed off before adding an aloof. "Well, I'm sure you can imagine the consequences." He left the lab, the door closing quietly behind him. After a moment, the scientist collapsed into her chair and put her head in her hands. Minutes passed and she finally looked up at the blurry object.

"My life depends on something that shouldn't exist." She said with a short, slightly hysterical laugh that turned into a sob. "Oh, god." She breathed and the dream finally began to fade out, but not before Kayla finally got a look at the now un-blurred object the scientists had been studying.

When Kayla woke up, she sat for a moment shellshocked. As the haze of sleep faded she was able to recognise the bald man. Lex Luthor. _Holy shit._ Then Kayla frantically clambered out of bed to wake up Percy. She was so stupid! They all were. The seas should never have gotten that rough, how on earth could they have just ignored this?!

She didn't explain it to Percy when she woke him up. She didn't explain it to Annabeth when Kayla woke her up. She didn't explain until after Chiron had woken up and answered Kayla's pounding on the Big House door. It was too important to be explained three times. It was too important to wait until the sun rose. Maybe it was just a dream, but they couldn't take that risk.

Because on that table, in that lab filled with collared monsters, being studied by scientists, was a trident.

Her father's Trident.


	8. Chapter 7

**Long Island**

 **July 10, 2012**

 **3:30 AM**

 **Camp Half-Blood; The Big House**

It was clear to Kayla that Percy, Annabeth, and Chiron weren't entirely happy with her waking them up at ass o'clock in the morning, but as she explained the events of her dream, their dispositions changed from 'tired and annoyed' to 'tired and worried'. When Kayla reached the end of her dream she lowered her hands from where they were wildly gesticulating and into her lap, looking expectedly at Chiron. After a few beats of just watching the old centaur think, Kayla turned to look at Percy and Annabeth, only to find them doing the same thing. Two minutes passed before Kayla got fed up.

"Well!?" Kayla exclaimed. "Am I crazy or not? 'Cause if that actually happened… well, everyone knows that Lex Luthor is a supervillain. Just because they can't get charges to stick doesn't make him a better person, it just means that whatever he's planning with dad's trident is going to be worse."

"You said there were monsters in cages?" Chiron asked.

"Yeah," Kayla said. "Plus… shock collars. At least, I think that's what they were. Sure looked like it."

"That doesn't make sense... " Percy chimed in. "What use could they have for monsters? Or dad's trident? They're mortal, what do they have to gain here?"

"Power." Annabeth said. "It's _Lex Luthor_. If anyone's power hungry it's him, and if his scientists _do_ manage to unlock the trident's full power then he'd be a force to be reckoned with."

"Except they haven't." Kayla said. "At least- not yet. They're missing something."

"They're missing a person with Poseidon's blood." Chiron said. Percy and Kayla shared a look before looking back at Chiron with Annabeth.

"What do you mean?" Percy asked. "Why would they need our blood?"

"Think of it as," Chiron thought for a moment. "A failsafe, of sorts. After Zeus's lightning bolt was stolen, some of the gods took precautions in case _their_ weapons were stolen. Poseidon made it so that only someone with his blood could use the trident's full power."

"But they won't be able to find out that that is the key to unlocking it." Annabeth said. "Our concern should be why and how Luthor has the trident. Other than power, what use could he have for the trident and those monsters?"

"There's no way for us to find out from here." Chiron said. Percy looked at the old centaur with an unusually stormy look on his face.

"You're suggesting a quest." He stated, clearly disapproving. "Which would be rightfully Kayla's since it was her dream." He side-eyed Kayla for a moment before returning his full attention to Chiron. "No. She hasn't had enough training, she'd get herself killed."

"Now wait just a minute-" Kayla attempted to interject. Chiron beat her to the punch.

"You had less training and you were younger than she is now when you went on your first quest." Chiron said. Percy looked away, staring down at his feet with way too much interest. "You may want to protect her, but she has to learn to fight monsters out in the real world."

"I appreciate what you're doing Chiron, I really do, but I'm right here." Kayla said, tired of not having input on something that has everything to do with her. She turned her entire body towards Percy and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm not helpless. You know that." Percy took a deep breath and looked up at his sister.

"Doesn't mean I want you going on a quest that you could get killed on." He said. "You said it yourself. He's a supervillain. Three demigods may not be enough. It's going to be dangerous." Kayla could accept that he had a point but an idea started forming in her head.

"You're right. He is a supervillain." She started, a small smile spreading into a lopsided grin on her face. "But there's a whole group of people dedicated to stopping supervillains. If we can convince the Justice League to help us with this, which shouldn't be hard since, y'know it's Lex Luthor, we can take care of it easy peasy and get dad's trident back!" Percy, Annabeth, and Chiron all shared a look.

"That could actually work…" Annabeth started. "But how are you planning on contacting the Justice League?"

"The Hall of Justice, maybe?" Kayla suggested. "That would be the best bet, or at least a good starting point."

"But that's in Washington D.C." Percy pointed out. "How are you going to get there?"

"A bus, maybe? Or a train?" Kayla said, slowly losing confidence.

"Or shadow travel." Everyone in the room jumped about a foot in the air and turned to where none other than Nico di Angelo was standing, and had been for who-knows-how-long.

"What the fuck man?" Kayla asked, ignoring Percy's muttered 'language'. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough." He responded.

"That doesn't fucking answer the question." Kayla pointed out, annoyed. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough to know what's going on and that all you have is a plan that's barely even half-baked." Nico snarked.

"Dude it's fucking ass o'clock in the morning, how were you even in a position to know there was something to eavesdrop _on_?" This time Percy nudged her with his knee.

"Language." Kayla waved him off, which Percy rolled his eyes at before continuing. "What were you saying about shadow travel, Nico?"

"It's faster and more efficient than a bus _or_ train." Nico said, which was true. Kayla remembered it from when she was brought to camp by Mrs. O'Leary. "I could go with her on the quest and take her to the Hall of Justice. Which could also solve the inexperience problem. If I go with her I can look out for her for you." Kayla had no idea when they had decided that Percy wasn't going with her, but she supposed that it made sense. Percy was one of, if not _the_ , most powerful demigods alive. Him being outside of Camp may not be all that safe. Besides, with his luck, she'd probably end up on a most wanted list. But Kayla still wasn't happy with the lack of you know, actually addressing her. Percy, who had been nodding along to Nico's suggestions seemed to pick up on that.

"It sounds like a good plan, but this is Kayla's quest." He said. "It's her call. Kayla?" As much as Kayla wanted to say 'fuck no' out of spite, she knew that this was probably the best chance she had of getting to Washington D.C. quickly and getting the Justice League's help.

"I'm alright with it, but won't taking three people all the way to D.C. be, I don't know, draining?" Kayla asked. Nico only shrugged.

"If it was a longer distance, it would be a huge problem but as long as we have ambrosia and nectar on hand and I can find a place to take a power nap, I should be fine." Nico said. Kayla nodded.

"Then I think I have our third person." Kayla said. "Anything else for me to do before I pack, Chiron?" He seemed to consider the question for a moment.

"Considering your enemy is mortal, and you're seeking the help of mortals, I don't believe a prophecy is necessary." He said. "Go. Find the last member of your party. I will meet the three of you on Half-Blood Hill, next to the tree at sunrise." Kayla nodded and with that, she stood and walked out of the Big House, towards the Aphrodite cabin.

* * *

 **Well, it's been awhile, but it's also a longer chapter. Mostly dialogue though, sorry. But now things are heating up! Mostly with Kayla and Nico snarking back and forth… :D. Next time, they go to the Hall of Justice! (Also, let's just pretend that the events of YJ started in 2012… :P)**


	9. Chapter 8

**Long Island**

 **July 10, 2012**

 **3:50 AM**

 **Camp Half-Blood**

The first thing Kayla learned about leading a quest was how to tune out her shitrooster of a cousin and his complaining.

"He's a son of Aphrodite." Nico said for what seemed to be the seventh time since they left the Big House.

"You keep saying that, but I don't quite get why that means he can't come with us." Kayla replied. She could practically feel Nico rolling his eyes.

"All Aphrodite's children care about is looking nice and whether or not they'll have a date on Friday." Nico said. This time it was Kayla's turn to roll her eyes. "They're all useless in a fight, you saw for yourself how they 'play' Capture the Flag." Kayla scoffed and stopped walking to turn around and actually face Nico.

"Have you ever trained with Mitchell?" Kayla asked, crossing her arms. Nico opened his mouth to answer, but she cut him off. "Rhetorical question. I know you haven't." Nico narrowed his eyes into a glare, but Kayla refused to let him intimidate her. Mitchell had been a good friend and she wasn't about to let Nico think he could say whatever he wanted about him. "If you had, I wouldn't be here wondering if someone switched out your mouth for your asshole with how much stupid shit you're spewing." Nico briefly recoiled either from shock or offense, but Kayla didn't exactly care at the moment. "He is more than capable of having my back in a fight. I know that because I've trained with him." Then a thought popped into Kayla's head. Percy had told her about Nico actually being from the 30's but… well she had to make sure. "Wait…" She said suspiciously. "Is this actually about him being 'incapable' because he's a son of Aphrodite or because he's trans?" Nico's eyebrows rose and his eyes widened. Kayla felt anger begin to build in her chest. _How dare he._ "Well buddy, have I got a newsflash for you. Mitchell is more than capable of-" Nico cut her off as her voice started an uncontrolled crescendo.

"It's not that!" Nico said holding his hands out in front of him in what was probably supposed to be a placating gesture but came off more in a 'don't-shoot-me' way. He seemed a bit panicked, which was a better than his 'cool-as-a-cucumber-nothing-effects-me' expression he had going for him before. "I- I didn't even know that until now. And that's not why, it's the son of Aphrodite thing." Kayla rolled her eyes.

"Well, while that's better than the alternative, it's still stupid." She said, slightly relieved. "And he's coming with us." Nico opened his mouth to argue again. "End of discussion!" She snapped. Nico closed his mouth and, albeit reluctantly, dropped the subject. Kayla turned around and continued walking.

When they approached the Aphrodite cabin a few minutes later, Kayla immediately started banging on the door. Amidst the groans and "go away"s she heard from outside, Kayla could also hear footsteps approaching the door. She backed away just as the door was violently swung open by a very angry Drew Tanaka. Unfortunately, she still managed to look like a model, even with her face covered in a green face mask that would've made anyone else look like an alien.

"Drew!" Kayla exclaimed cheerfully, undeterred by the vicious glare that was suddenly focused entirely on her. "Always lovely to see you. Is Mitchell in? I need to borrow him for a moment." Kayla smiled as if it wasn't four o'clock in the morning and watched as Drew let out a dramatic, angry sigh and turned around to stalk towards one of the bunks.

"Mitchell! Deal with her so we can go back to sleep." Drew shouted, and Mitchell slowly extracted himself from his bed and walked towards the door, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"Kayla? What's going on?" As he spoke, Mitchell stepped outside, closing the door behind him. "It's like. So early." Kayla shrugged.

"Depends," she said, shrugging, "do you want the full version or the cliffnotes version?" Mitchell stared at Kayla for a moment. Then he started groaning.

"It is wAY TOO EARLY FOR THIS." He then plopped down so that he was sitting with his back against the cabin door. "Alright, then. Sit down and give me the full version." Kayla sat down across from him, and Nico remained standing above them awkwardly. Mitchell looked up at the other boy and raised his eyebrows. "You gonna sit down or what, pretty boy?" Mitchell asked, tone dry as a desert. Nico started, stuttered a little bit, turned bright red, and then finally sat down. Kayla was having a blast.

"Okay, so here's the thing," Kayla started. She talked for maybe fifteen minutes, telling Mitchell about her dream, their enemy, and their plan to seek aid from the Justice League. "… but we need a third person, and considering how little a filter I have, and his… everything" -Kayla waved a hand at Nico and was met with a surly glare- "we need someone with a bit more… tact. What d'you say?"

Mitchell had woken up a bit during Kayla's explanation and looked between the two powerful demigods in front of him.

"Are you sure you want me?" He asked hesitantly, eyes downcast. "I mean, there are tons of other demigods who are better at questing stuff than I am… why not take Annabeth or something?"

"Mitchell." Kayla shook her head and put a hand on his knee. "I trust you. I need _you_ for this, I know it. So how about it?" A smile spread across Mitchell's face and he nodded quickly. "There we go!" Kayla jumped up. "We leave at dawn. I think you have about an hour or two to get a bit more sleep, but make sure you're at the top of the hill by then, okay? I'm gonna go pack."

Kayla walked away, leaving Mitchell and Nico slightly baffled behind her.

* * *

 **This is hella late and pretty short, but I have deadlines coming up, so you know what that means!**

 **Procrastination! :P**

 **hopefully i'll be able to write more often soon tho**

 **Also, I think it goes without saying, but I headcanon Mitchell as trans. For anyone worried, Mitchell is out to the entire camp, Kayla did not out him, and Nico was just out of the loop. Any and all transphobic comments will be reported.**


	10. Chapter 9

**Long Island**

 **July 10, 2012**

 **4:15 AM**

 **Camp Half-Blood**

When Kayla walked in, Percy was sitting on his bunk, staring at his hands. Kayla carefully closed the door, wincing as it clicked closed all of her previous bravado fading. She suddenly felt as if everything was too loud for this moment. Kayla walked to Percy's side and sat down gingerly next to him. They sat there for a time, each waiting for the other to speak first.

"We haven't really talked much since I brought you to camp," Percy finally said. Kayla opened her mouth to protest, eyebrows furrowing, but Percy continued before she could. "Before you say anything about us talking every day, I mean about the important stuff. I haven't asked how you've been adjusting, I haven't told you anything about my previous quests, I don't know what you said to your mom when Chiron let you call her, hell, I don't even really know _what_ you went to Juvie for! I've…" Percy trailed off with a sigh and rubbed at the back of his neck. "I've been a pretty bad brother."

"What?" Kayla stared at Percy incredulously. "That's not true! None of those things make you a bad brother. It's not like I've been volunteering any information myse-"

"That's not the point Kayla." Kayla flinched at the sudden forcefulness of Percy's voice. "And there's that too." He waved a hand in Kayla's direction. "The whole flinching when guys yell, the bruises, and yeah, these aren't recent and I noticed it before, but I never thought to say anything because I was too wrapped up in my own problems to actually put together what those things usually end up meaning." Kayla sat up straighter and looked away, clenching her jaw. Percy opened his mouth to say something else and closed it almost immediately. "Kayla," he said, lowering his voice to a whisper as if talking to a spooked animal. "Hey, look at me." Kayla angled her head slightly towards him, but wouldn't make eye contact. "That was a bit out of line wasn't it? You're not ready to talk about that, are you?" Kayla stayed silent, flicked her eyes up so they met Percy's for just a moment before looking away again. "I'll take that as a yes." Percy sighed again and scrubbed a hand over his face before continuing. "Look you don't have to talk, okay? But can I talk at you for a bit? I feel like we kind of need it. Nod for yes, shake your head for no?" Kayla stayed completely still for a good minute before jerkily nodding. "Okay. Thank you."

"So I've actually been kind of conflicted about finding out about you. I'm not mad at you! I'm not. It's just… until recently our dad and our uncles had this pact not to have children, swore on the Styx and everything. All because of this prophecy from, like, right after World War II that said that a child of the big three would either save or destroy Olympus on their sixteenth birthday. That could've been me, Thalia, Nico, or… Anyway, Nico was actually born before the pact, in 1932, and ended up in this casino where you never age when he was ten. Eventually he got out but it had been seventy years so he was still, physically, ten. Thalia is actually older than me, but she was a tree for a bit- long story- and then joined the hunters right before she turned sixteen. Which left me." Percy stopped for a minute and stared at his hands. "There was a war last year. Or, well, the final battle of the war. Kronos came back to life using another demigod, Luke, as a host. He had also bathed in the Styx. There were demigods on both sides. A lot of people died. Annabeth almost… anyway. We ended up winning thanks to Luke. He sacrificed himself to stop Kronos. After the battle ended, Zeus offered me immortality. I turned it down, and instead asked that they nullify their pact, that all demigods would have to be claimed by the time they were thirteenth, and that minor gods also get cabins for their children to stay in, instead of crowding the Hermes cabin. I talked to dad after that and he made a joke about giving me siblings, which until May I had actually thought was a joke. But then that Hellhound attacked, and I thought 'of course Kayla's a demigod, adhd, dyslexia, a penchant for stealing, she's definitely a Hermes kid, looks like we really are cousins, I can't believe I didn't see the signs.' And then dad claimed you. I didn't really know what to think. I'll admit I was a bit upset that dad didn't give me any warning, that he hadn't found some way to get you to camp earlier. A lot of demigods-" Percy stopped, looked at Kayla, took a deep breath, and started again. "A lot of demigods don't make it to camp. They die on the way, or as kids, because of some monster that could smell them and wanted a snack. That's part of why I would get kicked out of schools. Monster attacks. It's worse for us because we're naturally a lot stronger than most other demigods. The stronger you are, the more monsters that want to kill you. So I just- I can't _believe_ that dad would leave you in that kind of danger for so long." Percy looked back down at his hands and took another deep breath. "That _I_ left you in that kind of danger for so long."

"What? Percy-" Kayla started, but Percy interrupted again.

"Quit saying it's not my fault." Percy said. "I should've known you were a demigod. It's so _obvious_ looking back, and you were completely defenseless." Kayla gave Percy a look. "Alright, fine, defenseless against _monsters._ I still can't believe you beat me in hand-to-hand," He amended begrudgingly.

"Three times!" Kayla said, trying to break the tension that had settled over the room. It worked to a degree. Percy chuckled slightly and smiled kindly at Kayla.

"Sorry I've been going on and on for so long. But I just- you're about to go on a quest and you're nowhere near ready, and maybe if we had more time-"

"But we don't." Kayla said.

"But we don't." Percy repeated, smiling wryly. "Looks like I'll just have to make sure you're prepared. Mind if I help you pack?"

"Not at all."

* * *

"Alright." Percy said, watching Kayla zip up her duffle. "Looks like you're all set."

"I mean, except for those." Kayla frowned and gestured to her daggers, propped up against the wall in their scabbards. "How am I gonna be able to take those anywhere? You said it yourself, the Mist only goes so far." Almost as soon as she had finished talking a loud crack echoed through the cabin followed by a thump. Kayla whirled around to find two scabbards and a note had landed on her bed. Percy walked up next to her and picked up the note.

"'Try using these instead,'" Percy read, "signed, 'an admirer of your work' with a caduceus underneath it. Ha! Looks like Hermes is actually a fan of yours!"

"Whelp. Okay then." Kayla picked up the scabbards and studied them closely. "Huh, they don't look any different."

"You should still try them out. Hermes's gifts are usually useful," Percy suggested. Kayla's mind caught on the 'usually' in his sentence.

"Why is that something you know."

"Don't question it, just try those things out."

Kayla rolled her eyes but grabbed her daggers from their spot anyway, and transferred them into the other scabbards. One second her daggers were in her hand, and the next Kayla was scrambling to catch two flash drives on a keychain. Once they were back in her hand, she stared at them for a good minute before popping the caps off of the drives. In an instant, she had her daggers back in her hand, the two scabbards fell to the floor in front of her.

"Holyfuckingshitthat'ssocool." She whispered.

"Language." Percy said half-heartedly. "But looks like that solves your problem." Percy looked out the window and saw the first colors of sunrise coming up over the hill.

"Looks like it's almost time to go." Kayla said, sheathing her daggers once again and putting the flash drives in her pocket.

"Yeah, looks like." Percy looked at Kayla, worry taking over his features for just a moment before he covered it with a fond smile. "Come on, then. I'll walk you over."

* * *

 **OKAY, another short one, but hopefully a good one! Pretty dialogue heavy, and not as sassy as the last few chapters, but Kayla** _ **is**_ **having a bit of A Day, sooo ¯\\_(** **ツ** **)_/¯**

 **Besides I got a lot of reviews about Kayla and Percy's dynamic in the past, so i figured id show a bit of the emotional crap and not just the sass.**

 **JOIN US NEXT TIME FOR the first day of the quest and ACTUALLY FUCKING MEETING SOME SUPERHEROES**

 **If you liked it, please don't forget to review!** **(** **ﾟヮﾟ** **)**


End file.
